The Congress party on Friday slammed the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) following its call to reconsider the inclusion of the words “socialist” and “secular” in the Preamble of the Indian Constitution.The party alleged that RSS has "never accepted" Babasaheb Ambedkar's Constitution and that their demand was part of the conspiracy to destroy it.
The opposition party also said the suggestion by the RSS is a "deliberate assault on the soul of our Constitution".
At an event marking the 50th anniversary of the Emergency, RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale said that the terms “socialist” and “secular” were not part of Ambedkar’s original draft. He added they were inserted during the Emergency via the 1976 Forty‑Second Amendment, a period when Parliament, judiciary, and fundamental rights were all severely curtailed .
Hosabale said, “The Preamble Baba Saheb Ambedkar made never had these words. During the Emergency, judiciary became lame then these words were added,” and called for a public debate on whether they should remain.
He also demanded that the Congress apologise for the authoritarian excesses and human rights violations committed during that period
Responding swiftly, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh accused the RSS of never having accepted the Constitution authored by Ambedkar.
"It attacked Dr Ambedkar, Nehru, and others involved in its framing from November 30, 1949 onwards. In RSS' own words, the Constitution was not inspired by Manusmriti," he said in a post on X.
"The RSS and the BJP have repeatedly given the call for a new Constitution.
"This was Mr (Narendra) Modi's campaign cry during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The people of India decisively rejected this cry. Yet the demands for changing the basic structure of the Constitution continues to be made by the RSS ecosystem," Ramesh said.
Ramesh reiterated that the Chief Justice of India had already addressed and upheld the Preamble’s language in a November 25, 2024 judgment, challenging RSS claims .
In a Hindi post on X, the party accused the RSS–BJP alliance of championing an “anti‑constitutional” agenda. "Now RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale has demanded a change in the Preamble of the Constitution.
Hosabale says- the words 'socialist' and 'secular' should be removed from the Preamble of the Constitution.
This is the conspiracy to destroy Baba Saheb's Constitution, which RSS-BJP has always been hatching," the party said.
When the Constitution was implemented, RSS opposed it, the Congress said.
"In the Lok Sabha elections, BJP leaders were openly saying that we need more than 400 seats in Parliament to change the Constitution. Finally, the public taught them a lesson. Now once again they are engaged in their conspiracies, but the Congress will not let their intentions succeed at any cost. Jai Samvidhan," the party said in the post in Hindi.